A long list of who’s-who in the progressive elite continues to fearmonger about so-called “banned books.” Big names from former First Lady Jill Biden to MS NOW anchor Rachel Maddow would have you believe concerned parents are ushering in a new Dark Age in which learning is forbidden. This scary story falls apart under the least scrutiny.
Across the country, parents are starting to notice what is in the school libraries, and they are rightly shocked. The internet has dozens of videos of parents reading aloud passages from books pulled off the shelves in their children’s schools. From sexually explicit content to political propaganda, what parents are finding is disturbing. One mother was confused and concerned when the school librarian sent her daughter home with multiple books about becoming transgender. Some of the material is so inappropriate that parents have been forbidden from reading it aloud at school board meetings, with one dad having his mic cut off. If the books are too objectionable for the school board meeting, why are librarians picking them and sending them home with children?
When parents — and lawful taxpayers — sound the alarm and demand the removal of these books, they are not “banning” educational material. This exercise of civic responsibility is not censorship. All the theatrical panic over “banned” books is nothing more than an effort to undermine parents’ legitimate concerns. To be clear: the progressive radicals refuse to protect innocent minors from inappropriate material.
Why? As we’ve seen with other issues, our children in the public school system are being used as political pawns. When robbed of their innocence and exposed to propaganda and pornographic content by the teachers they naturally trust, they are captured by powerful political elites intent on undermining faith, family, and freedom. Parents who instill a love of God, family, and patriotism may never realize how political actors in the schools are directly attacking their children’s healthy formation and turning them against their parents.
There is another question that has to be asked: How did this material wind up in our schools in the first place? There is no one rogue librarian at work here. We see the same pattern of inappropriate content and radical political ideology in schools across the country.
Astute political commentators now see the primary culprit as the American Library Association (ALA). Writing for Real Clear Politics, Dan Kleinman reveals the radicalism long at work in the ALA. Like the largest teachers’ unions in the country, this is an organization that no longer pretends to political neutrality: it is openly hostile to conservative values and actively pushing progressivism. Just how blatant is the bias? Kleinman notes that ALA President Sam Helmick, who uses “they/them” pronouns, spoke at a “No Kings” protest specifically advocating for the very tactics parents are objecting to.
Progressives want to present their tactics as introducing students to “alternative perspectives,” but we need to call it for what it is: indoctrinating impressionable children and exposing them to inappropriate content that has no place in our schools.
Deceptively, the ALA quotes studies suggesting that parents do not support “banning books,” but these terms are not defined. Of course, parents want their children to have access to legitimate educational material and robust school libraries. If parents are informed of the vile and explicit content being peddled through school libraries, the survey results would look much different.
Kleinman writes, “Supported by allies in the mainstream media, the ALA’s 'Unite Against Book Bans' campaign is a concerted, well-funded ideological grooming effort all too happy to trample on parental rights along the way.”
Knowing that this is happening is only the first step. What can parents and other concerned citizens do? Find like-minded people and advocate at the local level. We have seen in instances across the country that when parents attend local school board meetings and speak up, they cannot be ignored. When biased administrators try to silence parents, their nefarious intentions are all the more obvious.
This isn’t just about school board meetings, though. To combat the ALA at every level, parents need to be in our schools volunteering and paying attention. The easiest way to find inappropriate or politically radical content in the school library is to be the one reshelving and taking inventory. This is not an issue on which we can sit idly by.
If you can’t commit to volunteering in the school, be aware of the books that are coming home, the content of the curricula and classroom lessons. Pay attention and get tuned in to what is going on in your child’s school.
Concerned parents can make change by documenting all objections, speaking out at public meetings, and following up on their objections. My organization, Mom for America, offers training to parents so they can learn how to speak up, file objections, and even run for school board positions.
For years, parents have been becoming more aware of the political ideology and inappropriate content running rampant in our schools. We have documented evidence that this is not a fluke but a deliberate strategy by the people who want to capture our children’s minds and hearts. If we are up against a behemoth like the ALA, we cannot casually observe and occasionally comment. It is time for action.
We are not “banning” books; we are protecting children. For too long, a false narrative has gone unquestioned in the mainstream media. Hold the ALA accountable. Reclaim our schools for commonsense values and patriotism. The silent majority is silent no more.